The losses of the Reformation in German Switzerland
were more than made up by the gains in French Switzerland; that is, in
the three Cantons, Vaud, Neuchàtel, and Geneva.332332La
Suisse française orla Suisse
romande. Vaud has 1244 square
miles; Neuchâtel, 312; Geneva, 109. The first numbered, in
1889, 251,000 inhabitants; the second, 109,000; the third,
107,000. Protestantism moved westward.
Calvin continued, improved, and completed the work of Zwingli, and gave
it a wider significance. Geneva took the place of Zürich,
and surpassed in influence the city of Zwingli and the city of Luther.
It became "the Protestant Rome," from which proceeded the ideas and
impulses for the Reformed Churches of France, Holland, England, and
Scotland. The city of Calvin has long since departed from his rigorous
creed and theocratic discipline, and will never return to them; but the
evangelical faith still lives there in renewed vigor; and among cities
of the same size there is none that occupies a more important and
influential position in theological and religious activity as well as
literary and social culture, and as a convenient centre for the
settlement of international questions, than Geneva.

The Reformation of French Switzerland cannot be
separated from that of France. The inhabitants of the two countries are
of the same Celtic or Gallic stock mixed with Germanic (Frank and
Burgundian) blood. The first evangelists of Western Switzerland were
Frenchmen who had to flee from their native soil. They became in turn,
through their pupils, the founders of the Reformed Church of France.
The Reformed Churches of the two countries are one in spirit. After the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, many Huguenots found an asylum in
Geneva, Vaud, and Neuchâtel. The French Swiss combine the
best traits of the French character with Swiss solidity and love of
freedom. They are ever ready to lend a helping hand to their brethren
across the frontier, and they form at the same time a connecting link
between them and the Protestants of the German tongue. Their excellent
educational institutions attract students from abroad and train
teachers for other countries.

The territory of the French Cantons, which
embraces 1665 square miles, was in the sixteenth century under the
protection of the Swiss Confederacy.

The principality of Neuchâtel and
Valangin concluded a co-burghery with Freiburg, 1290, with Bern, 1307,
and with Solothurn, 1324. In 1707 the principality passed to King
Frederick I. of Prussia, who confirmed the rights and liberties of the
country and its old alliance with Switzerland. The connection with
Prussia continued till 1857, when it was dissolved by free consent.334334 See the historical works
on Neuchâtel by Chambrier, Matile, Boyve, Majer,
Benoît.

Geneva was originally governed by a bishop and a
count, who divided the spiritual and secular government between them.
Duke Charles III. of Savoy tried to subdue the city with the aid of an
unworthy and servile bishop, Pierre de la Baume, whom he had appointed
from his own family with the consent of Pope Leo X.335335 Pierre de la Baume was
bishop of Geneva from 1523 to 1536, became bishop of
Besançon 1542, and died 1544. Bonivard (as quoted by Audin,
who praises the bishops of Geneva) says of him: "He was a great
dissipator of goods, in all things superfluous, esteeming it a
sovereign virtue in a prelate to have his table loaded with large
dishes of meat and all sorts of wines; and when there he gave himself
up so completely as to exceed thirty-one courses." Audin adds (p. 116):
"This shaft would have been much more pointed, had not Bonivard often
seated himself at this table and drank far otherwise than became the
prior of St. Victor." But a patriotic party, under the lead of
Philibert Berthelier, Besançon Hugues, and
François Bonivard (Byron’s "Prisoner of
Chillon") opposed the attempt and began a struggle for independence,
which lasted several years, and resembles on a small scale the heroic
struggle of Switzerland against foreign oppression. The patriots, on
account of their alliance with the Swiss, were called
Eidgenossen,—a German word for (Swiss) Confederates,
which degenerated by mispronunciation into Eignots and Huguenots, and
passed afterwards from Geneva to France as a nickname for
Protestants.336336 Merle
D’Aubigné, I. 119: "Until after the
Reformation, this sobriquet had a purely political meaning, in no
respect religious, and designated simply the friends of independence.
Many years after, the enemies of the Protestants of France called them
by this name, wishing to stigmatize them and impute to them a foreign,
republican, and heretical origin. Such is the true etymology of the
term." There are, however, two other etymologies,—one
from Hugh Capet, from whom descended Henry IV., the political and
military leader of the Huguenots. The party of
the Duke of Savoy and the bishop were nicknamed Mamelukes or slaves.
The patriots gained the victory with the aid of the German Swiss. On
Feb. 20, 1526, Bern and Freiburg concluded an alliance with Geneva, and
pledged their armed aid for the protection of her independence. The
citizens of Geneva ratified the Swiss alliance by an overwhelming
majority, who shouted, "The Swiss and liberty!" The bishop appealed in
vain to the pope and the emperor, and left Geneva for St. Claude. But
he had to accept the situation, and continued to rule ten years longer
(till 1536).337337 For the details of these
political struggles, which have little interest for Church history, see
Merle D’Aubigné, I. 1-426; the Histories of
Geneva, and Am. Roget, Les
Suisses et Genève, ou l’emancipation de la
communautégenevoise au XVIesiècle, Genève, 1864, 2 vols. Also Kampschulte,
l.c. I. 3-90.

This political movement, of which Berthelier is
the chief hero, had no connection with the Reformation, but prepared
the way for it, and was followed by the evangelical labors of Farel and
Viret, and the organization of the Reformed Church under Calvin. During
the war of emancipation there grew up an opposition to the Roman Church
and the clergy of Geneva, which sided with Savoy and was very corrupt,
even according to the testimonies of Roman Catholic writers, such as
Bishop Antoine Champion, Bonivard, the Soeur de Jussie, and Francis of
Sales. Reports of the Lutheran and Zwinglian reformation nursed the
opposition. Freiburg (Fribourg) remained Roman Catholic338338 It is famous for the
organ in the Church of St. Nicolas, for a suspension bridge, and a
Catholic university. It is the seat of the bishop of Lausanne, and must
not be confounded with Freiburg-im-Breisgau in the Grand Duchy of
Baden, which is also a stronghold of Romanism. and broke the alliance with
Geneva; but Bern strengthened the alliance and secured for Geneva
political freedom from Savoy and religious freedom from Rome.

NOTES.

For the understanding of the geography and history
of the Swiss Confederacy, the following facts should be considered in
connection with the map facing p. 1.

1. The original Confederacy of the Three Forest
Cantons (Urcantone, Waldstätte), Uri, Schwyz, and
Unterwalden, from Aug. 1, 1291 (the date of the renewal of an older
covenant of 1244) to 1332. Victory at Morgarten over Duke Leopold of
Austria, Nov. 15, 1315. (After 1352 the number of Forest Cantons was
five, including Luzern and Zug.)

2. The Confederacy of the Eight Cantons (Orte)
from 1353 to 1481.

Luzern joined the Forest Cantons in 1332
(thenceforward the Confederacy was called the Bund der Vier
Waldstätte, to which in 1352 was added Zug as the Fifth
Forest Canton; hence the Fünf Orte or Five Cantons).

Zürich joined 1351.

Glarus joined 1352.

Zug " 1352

Bern " 1353.

Victories over the Austrians at Sempach, July 9,
1386 (Arnold von Winkelried), and Näfels, April 9, 1388.
Battle against the Dauphin of France (Louis XI.) Aug. 26, 1444, at St.
Jacob near Basel (the Thermopylae of the Swiss), and victories over
Charles the Bold of Burgundy, at Grandson, June 22, 1476, and Nancy,
Jan. 5, 1477.

3. The Confederacy of the Thirteen Cantons,
1513–1798.

Freiburg joined 1481.

Schaffhausen joined 1501

Solothurn " 1481

Appenzell " 1513

Basel " 1501.

4. The Confederation under the French Directory,
1798–1802. Vaud, with the help of France, made herself
independent of Bern, 1798. Valtellina Chiavenna, and Bormio were lost
to the Grisons and attached to the Cisalpine Republic by Napoleon,
1797. Neuchâtel separated from Switzerland.

5. The Confederation of Nineteen Cantons from
1803–1813, under the influence of Napoleon as
"Mediator."

6. Modern Switzerland of Twenty-Two Cantons from
the Congress of Vienna, 1815, to date.

The new Cantons are: Ticino, Valais, St. Gall,
Aargau, Thurgau, Grisons, Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel. They were
formerly dependent on, and protected by, or freely associated with, the
Thirteen Can

334 See the historical works
on Neuchâtel by Chambrier, Matile, Boyve, Majer,
Benoît.

335 Pierre de la Baume was
bishop of Geneva from 1523 to 1536, became bishop of
Besançon 1542, and died 1544. Bonivard (as quoted by Audin,
who praises the bishops of Geneva) says of him: "He was a great
dissipator of goods, in all things superfluous, esteeming it a
sovereign virtue in a prelate to have his table loaded with large
dishes of meat and all sorts of wines; and when there he gave himself
up so completely as to exceed thirty-one courses." Audin adds (p. 116):
"This shaft would have been much more pointed, had not Bonivard often
seated himself at this table and drank far otherwise than became the
prior of St. Victor."

336 Merle
D’Aubigné, I. 119: "Until after the
Reformation, this sobriquet had a purely political meaning, in no
respect religious, and designated simply the friends of independence.
Many years after, the enemies of the Protestants of France called them
by this name, wishing to stigmatize them and impute to them a foreign,
republican, and heretical origin. Such is the true etymology of the
term." There are, however, two other etymologies,—one
from Hugh Capet, from whom descended Henry IV., the political and
military leader of the Huguenots.

337 For the details of these
political struggles, which have little interest for Church history, see
Merle D’Aubigné, I. 1-426; the Histories of
Geneva, and Am. Roget, Les
Suisses et Genève, ou l’emancipation de la
communautégenevoise au XVIesiècle, Genève, 1864, 2 vols. Also Kampschulte,
l.c. I. 3-90.

338 It is famous for the
organ in the Church of St. Nicolas, for a suspension bridge, and a
Catholic university. It is the seat of the bishop of Lausanne, and must
not be confounded with Freiburg-im-Breisgau in the Grand Duchy of
Baden, which is also a stronghold of Romanism.